Driving mechanism for knitting-machines.



T. WILGOMB. DRIVING mom-mm FOE'KNIT'TING MAGHINE$. APPLIOATIOE FILEDNOW'L'I, 1906. RENEWED NOV. 29, 1912. W

Patented J an. 7, 1913.

Z Ema j COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO-ANASHINGTON D. c.

the machine by STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK WILCOMB, OF NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WILCOMB MACHINE COMPANY, OF NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR KN ITTING-MAOHIN ES.

1 @%9 553 Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jan, *7 1913 Application filed November 17, 1906, Serial No. 343,947. Renewed November 29, 1912. Serial No. 734,198.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK VVILooMB, a citizen of the United States, residing at N orristown, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Driving Mechanism for Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification."

It is the object of my invention to provide a driving mechanism for knitting machines of the class having fast and slow movements, such for instance as is generally required on machines for knitting stockings where the heel and toe are knit with a much slower movement of the machine than while knitting the stocking leg.

In carrying out my invention I employ two pulleys loosely mounted on the drum shaft, one a fast and one a slow speed pulley and I provide means for locking either one of said pulleys to the shaft for driving the machine according to the speed required, said means however being of such construction that only one of said pulleys can be locked to the shaft at one time.

Automatic means are provided for throwing into action either of the pulleys and hand operated means are so arranged that the machine may be stopped and started by hand whenever desired. This hand operating mechanism is specially constructed and arranged to cooperate with the automatic mechanism, the two being interrelated, and one being complementary of the other in accomplishing all the results desired.

WVith my improvements it is possible to stop the machine when it is on either fast or slow speed by operating the hand lever, and it is possible when the machine is stopped while on fast speed to start the machine, by hand again on the fast speed, but in the event of the machine having been stopped by hand while on slow speed it will be impossible for the operator to throw the ma chine into high speed at once when starting it again. This would result in damage to reason of too high speed.

The invention consists in the features, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of the driving mechanism of a knitting machine embodying my inven- U011, parts being shown in section. Fig. 2 1s a view of the slow driving pulley looking from the right of Fig. 1.

In these drawings, 1 is the drive shaft having a bevel gear 2 for imparting move ment to the machine to be driven. This shaft carries fixed thereto, a hand wheel 3 by which the shaft may be turned, and a pair of pulleys 4, 5 are loosely mounted on said drive shaft. Fixed to the shaft and located between the hubs of the pulleys is a clutch block 6 which is secured in place by means of screws 7. This clutch block has a long hub or sleeve portion 8, which extends within the hubs of the pulleys and on which said pulleys turn.

The clutch block carries a locking plate 9 movable longitudinally of and parallel with the shaft in a way or groove 10 formed in the clutch block. It is operated in said way by a shipper bar 11 movable in a way or groove 12 of the hub of the clutch block and having a radially extending end 13 extending into a notch let of the locking plate. This locking plate is held in the groove of the clutch block by a cap plate 15 held in place by the screws 16. The locking plate has a lug 17, a notch 18 and a main engaging portion 19.

The pulleys, it will be understood, are constantly driven by belts.

The slow speed pulley has a pivoted dog 20 and a fixed dog or projection 21 is carried by the fast pulley, these constituting means to contact with the locking plate and individually drive the same when said locking plate is adjusted into line therewith. With the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1, no movement would be imparted either from the slow speed pulley or from the fast speed pulley because the notch 18 is in line with the pivoted driving dog which would pass therethrough at each revolution and the locking plate is also out of line with the fast speed driving dog or stud 21.

Now if the locking plate is shifted toward the left in Fig. 1, the first effect will be to bring the lug 17 in line with the driving dog 20, which will now engage therewith and drive the clutch block and consequently the shaft 1 at slow speed. This will continue so its locking plate to move freely past the same when said lock plate is in its half way position and partly engaging the fast pulley lug and in position to be engaged partly by the slow speed dog. This construction will prevent the two pulleys from becoming jammed.

For operating the lock plate I provide the following interconnected hand operating and automatic mechanism.

The shipper bar extends along the shaft and is connected to a shipper block 22 slidably mounted on the shaft and having its groove 23 engaged by a shipper fork 24, which is adapted to slide on a shipper shaft or rod 25 slidably mounted in the bearings 26 and 27. This shipper rod has fixed thereto a block 28 in which is journaled a shipper shaft 29 having a hand lever 30 fixed thereon and having also an arm 31 fixed thereto, which'latter is connected by a link 32 with the fork 24;. This block has also pivot-ally connected therewith the upper end of a lever 33, pivoted at 34 to the frame of the machine.

The lower end of this lever has a pin or roller 35 bearing upon a cam 36 fixed on a shaft 37 driven in any suitable way from the main driving shaft 1. This lever is pressed by a spring 38 surrounding its pivot so that its tendency is to force the shipper devices bodily toward the left in Fig. 1.

As before stated, the driving shaft is shown at rest in Fig. 1, the shipper connections being in a corresponding position. The fast and slow speed pulleys are now rotating freely upon the drive shaft. Now to drive the shaft the hand lever is moved in the arrow direction, Fig. 1, and this drawing upon the link through the arm 31 will slide the shipper fork along the rod 25 and thus move the shipper block and the bar 11, and through the shipper bar will move the block or plate into such a position that the slow speed pulley, through its dog 20 will drive the clutch block and shaft. In thus operating the hand lever it is moved to such an extent that the centers of the pivots at the link ends and the center of the rock or shipper shaft are all in one line. By this relative arrangement of the parts the lever would remain in the position just mentioned, and the machine will continue to run at slow speed until the cam 36 is rotated to bring its low part 39 to the roller 35, when the lever, under the action of its spring, will move the shipper connections, including the block 28,

the link, the shipper fork and bar to the left thus disengaging the lug 17 of the lock plate from the slow speed dog and moving it into engagement with the high speed dog or pin 21. The machine will now be driven by the high speed pulley, the low speed pulley simply rotating idly in its bearings. The machine may now be stopped at any time by lifting the hand lever and throwing it toward the right. In this movement the pivot 31 of the link will fall to the right of the shipper block, 71. e. to the right of the position shown in the drawings. In this action of stopping the machine from fast speed the locking plate is slid away from the lug 21 into alinement with the dog on the slow speed pulley, past the dog so as to be out of engagement with either dog or lug. From this position of rest the machine can be started again by a simple reversal of the actions just described, first on slow speed and then into fast speed. If, however, the machine is stopped by hand while on slow speed it is not possible in starting by hand to throw it onto high speed. This would be undesirable and would result in damage to the machine, the slow speed being rendered necessary because the knitting elements must at this time be run on slow speed.

It is desirable when the machine is at rest that the shipper fork should be held in its inoperative position against accidental movement, which would tend to start the machine.

I therefore provide a spring which shall hold it away from said operative position. This spring 40 is shown attached at one end to the block 28 and at its other end to the fork 2 1.

From the above it will be seen that the machine may be started by hand from a position of rest onto only the slow speed when the machine was stopped on said speed, and the automatic lever and cam mechanism will, at the proper time automatically throw it onto fast speed, and then as the machine continues knitting the automatic means shifts back to the slow pulley and again to the fast pulley in accordance with the character or pattern of the work being produced.

From a position of fast speed the parts may be shifted by hand to stop the machine,

and having stopped while on this speed the machine may be started on fast speed again by operating the hand lever.

Any suitable form of connection may be made whereby the shafts 1 and 37 are driven simultaneously, it not being thought necessary to show the driving connections for these shafts. The roller 35 of lever 33 runs upon the side face or edge of the cam 36 and thus it is operated by the high, and also by the low part 39 of said cam in an obvious manner, it. being held against the lateral face or edge of this cam by the action of the spring 38 so that as it rides over the cam it will swing from right to left and the reverse as viewed on the drawing.

I claim 1. In drive mechanism for knitting machines, and in combination, a fast and a slow speed pulley, a shaft carrying said pulleys to be driven thereby in one direction at different speeds, means common to both pulleys for connecting either pulley with the shaft for driving it, a hand operated device for starting the machine on the slow speed pulley, and automatic means for shifting the drive from the slow speed to the fast speed pulley, said hand operating means and the automatic means both acting on the said common connecting means, substantially as described.

2. In drive mechanism for knitting machines and in combination, a fast and a slow speed pulley, a shaft carrying said pulleys to be driven thereby in one direction at different speeds, means common to both pulleys for connecting either pulley with the shaft for driving it, a hand operated device for starting the machine on the slow speed pulley and automatic means for shifting the drive from the slow speed to the fast speed pulley and from the fast speed pulley back to theslow speed pulley, said hand operating means and the automatic means both acting on the said common connecting means, substantially as described.

3. In drive mechanism for knitting machines, a shaft to be driven, a fast and a slow speed pulley thereon for driving the same at different speeds in one direct-ion, a single hand operated means for throwing only the slow speed pulley into connection when the machine stops on said slow speed and preventing the throwing in first of the fast speed pulley, and automatic means for then throwing in the fast speed pulley as a result of throwing in the slow speed pulley, the said automatic means being constantly connected and ready to act as aconsequence of the operation of the said single hand lever, said single hand operating means stopping the machine on either fast or slow speed, substantially as described.

4;. In combination in drive mechanism for knitting machines, a drive shaft, fast and slow speed pulleys thereon for driving the shaft at different speeds in one direction, hand operating means for throwing the slow speed pulley into connection with the shaft, and means for automatically throwing the high speed into connection, said hand operating means being adapted to throw out of connection the fast speed pulley when the machine is to be stopped and to throw into connection the fast speed pulley when the the knitting is to be resumed.

5. In combination, in driving mechanism for knitting machines, a drive shaft, a fast and a slow speed pulley, automatically operating means for connecting either pulley with the drive shaft, and hand operating means for throwing either pulley out of operation in either position of the automatic operating means, substantially as described.

6. In combination in driving mechanism for knitting machines, a drive shaft, a fast speed and a slow speed pulley, automatic means and hand operated means for throwing said pulleys into connection with the drive shaft and a connection from-the automatic and hand operating means to the pulleys, said connection being common to both the said automatic and said hand operating means, substantially as described.

7. In combination in a driving mechanism for knitting machines, fast and slow speed pulleys, a drive shaft, automatic means for connecting. the pulleys with the drive shaft including an automatically operating device and a hand operating device with connections between the said hand operating device and the fast and slow speed pulleys, said connections being operated by the automatic means, and by the hand operating means independently of the automatic means, substantially as described.

8. In combination, in drive mechanism for knitting machines, fast and slow speed pulleys, a drive shaft, means for connecting the pulleys to the drive shaft including a hand operating device with connections to the pulleys, a movable support for the hand operating device and means for automatically moving said support to secure different driving effects, substantially as described 9. In combination, in drive mechanism for knitting machines, a drive shaft, fast and slow speed pulleys, a shipper shaft, 2. hand lever connected therewith. a block on which the shaft is supported, an arm and link connection ext-ending from the shaft to operate the locking means of the fast and slow pulleys and an automatically operating member connected with the block, substantially as described.

10. In driving mechanism for knitting machines, a fast and a slow speed pulley, a lever, means for operating the same automatically and connections between the said lever and the fast and slow speed pulleys including a hand operating member for throwing the connections into inoperative or operative position, substantially as described.

11. In combination, in driving mechanism for knitting machines, a fast and a slow speed pulley, a lever, means for operating the same automatically, a shipper shaft connected with said lever, arm and link 0011- nections between said shipper shaft and the pulleys and a hand operating connection for operating the shipper shaft, substantially as described.

12. In combination, in driving mechanism block, a shipper 'shaft and the shipper fork and an automatically operated lever for operating the said connection, substantially as described.

13. In. combination, in driving mechanism, a driven member, fast and slow speed pulleys, a hand operating connection for throwing the slow speed pulley into connection with the member to be driven and automatic means for moving the hand operating connection bodily to connect the fast speed pulley with the driven member, substantially as described.

14. In combination in driving mechanism for a knitting machine, a fast and a slow speed pulley, a shaft to be driven, means common to both pulleys to connect the pul leys alternately to the shaft including a yielding member on the slow speed pulley to allow the shaft to run ahead of the slow speed pulley, substantially as described.

15. In combination, in driving mechanism for a knitting machine, a fast and a slow speed pulley, a shaft to be driven, a locking member to lock the pulleys to the shaft, a dog or projection on the fast speed pulley to engage the locking member and a yielding dog on the slow speed pulley to engage said locking member but to allow said locking member to pass by when driven a fast and a slow' by the fast speed pulley, substantially as described.

16. In combination, nism for knitting machines,

in driving mechaa drive shaft,

fast and slow speed pulleys thereon, a locking member having a notch and a lug, a pivoted dog or lug on the slow speed pulley, a fixed lug on the fast speed pulley and means for shifting the locking member, substantially as described.

17. In combination, a drive shaft, fast and slow speed pulleys, means common to both pulleys to lock said pulleys alternately and singly to the drive shaft, interconnected hand operating and automatic means and connections therefrom to the common locking means for operating the same, substantially as described.

18. In combination a shaft, fast and slow pulleys, a clutch block shift-able from one to the other and connected with the shaft, a hand operated device for shifting the block, automatic means for shifting the block, said hand operating device shifting the block when the machine has stopped on the slow speed, only into connection with the slow pulley and the automatic means shifting onto the fast pulley only after the slow pulley has first been thrown in.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signa ture in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK WILCOMB.

Witnesses LEILA JENKINS, KATHERINE H. Fox.-

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

